European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 27, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday May 27, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 7 Chrysler move deflates air bag War Detroit not the Chrysler corp s Deci Sion y 1990 signals the Era of a nearly 20-year, Ballac Over use of the devices according to Auto Industry executives and safety advocates. Until the Chrysler announcement last week air bags which inflate rapidly to protect motorists in crashes had been available As Standard equipment an Only some High priced european cars and As option on Anty a few Domestic models the three american Auto companies had Long resisted installing the devices arguing that the technology was unproved and the expense too great. But Chrysler the smallest if Detroit s hip three Auto companies decided to put air bags on Sis mod Els for the remainder of the i9b8 Model year with no change in Price for two reasons. Federal regulations calling for additional passive restraints that require no action by passengers like buckling a Bell and Chrysler s own surveys of Cus Tomer preferences for air tugs Over passive seat belts which automatically wrap around a person As he or she enters a car. The models include the Chrysler Lebaron Coupe and convertible the Dodge Daytona and the older rear a Eccl drive Chrysler fifth Avenue Dodge dip Lomat and Plymouth Gran fury. Expert said it was too Early to Tell whether air bags would ultimately emerge As the dominant form of restraint Over passive seat Bells but the Chrysler move makes it Likely that general motors Ford and manufacturers of some popular imported can will also offer air bags As Standard equipment consumer advocates and insurance Industry officials say although pm and Ford declined comment on thai speculation some executives at the two companies privately said that air bag installations would in crease. We have declared Victory this ii a remarkable turnaround said Ralph Nader the consumer activist who has been urging the use of air bogs since the tint Federal regulations were proposed in 1969. Insurance Industry officials also hailed the Chrys Ler step As a major Advance the Chrysler development is significant because it puts air Bap in family priced said John Cook a senior vice president at the insurance Institute for Highway safety f. Peter Libassi a senior vice president of thetra Elers insurance companies said we estimate hat widespread use of air bags and scat belts could save 10,000 lives a has made air bags an 1815 option on its Tempo and Mercury Topaz compact cars since 1981 and has sold about 26,000 so far Many of them tothe Federal government and corporate fleets Ford is expected to announce that its 19s9 Lincoln Continental will have air bags As Standard equipment on both the Driver s and passenger s Side which would be a first for the Domestic automakers including Chrysler that offer air bags have them on Only the Driver s Side. Automotive engineers say it is More difficult to design a passenger s Side air bag because of the greater distance involved and the possibility that the Pas Senger could be a Small child who could be injured by a bag designed to restrain an Only other company to offer a passenger Side air bag is porsche he maker of expensive German sports cars. Another German manufacturer of High Price cars Mercedes Benz offers Driver Side bags As Stan Dard equipment on All models sold in the United has been less Active in this area offering an air bag option on just one Model the Oldsmobile Delia 88. Starting in the current Model year. A second car line with an air bag option will be offered next year pm bags and passive scat belts Are the two techno Logies thai have been developed id meet Federal regu air bag protects a person by sensing that a crash is taking place and inflating in about one-2slhof a second to Cushion the head and Chest from con tact with the steering wheel and Windshield. After Contact the bag deflates in about two Sec the Driver s Side the folded bag and a chemical Gas Generator Are mounted inside the Hub of the steering wheel. If any of several sensors arc jolted hard enough to close an electrical Contact the chemical charge is top automakers world Market share. General Molon u s i ignited and the bag bursts through the cover of the steering wheel where the Horn normally is found. A bag used by Ford is 26 inches in diameter or slightly wider than the steering wheel and is about 6 inches deep when fully inflated. The regulations Are intended to encourage the installation of air bags by Perrin thing. Active belts an the passenger Side until 1994 if the Driver is protected by an air bag. Companies using passive belts must install them on both sides by 1990. The announcement by Chrysler whose chairman. Lee a. Iacocca had denounced air bags for Yean. Came As a Surprise to some Iacocca was probably the Auto Industry executive most identified with opposition to air bags said Joan Saybrook a former head of the National High Way traffic safety administration to Sec him turn around and Start pushing them it really is a electric Utility files plan to Cut Energy demand Hartford Conn. Not new England s larg est electric company wednesday filed with the slate of Connecticut a conservation plan intended to Cut in half the growth in demand for program was hailed by regulators and Environ mentalists who had collaborated in its development As the most ambitious of its kind in the nation. The plan Calls for Northeast utilities to spend Al most s20 million in the next year and substantially More in future years to help pay for Energy saving methods in the Homes offices and factories of custom ers the company will recoup the costs through higher Rales just As it recoup investments in new plants. If the conservation increases Northeast s spare capacity it can sell the extra Power to neighbouring utilities at a plan offers the potential for lower electric Rales than might have been required had higher demand necessitated the construction of More generating plants. The program provides or expands free Energy audits for houses apartments and factories free installation of weather stripping subsidies for insulation and distribution of free High efficiency Light would a help owners of older commercial buildings by paying for engineering studies for Energy modifications evaluating bids for Energy improvements and identifying financing options. The program covers the Connecticut Light and Power co., a Northeast subsidiary with i million customers serving an area with a population of 2.4 Mil lion. It must still be approved by the department of Public Utility control which ordered its preparation. Pans of the program Are scheduled to Start in sep tember others represent improvements in efforts thai began several years ago. Major expansion of medicare clears House Senate committee Washington a a catastrophic health insurance Bill providing the largest expansion of medi care in the program s 23-year history has cleared a major legislative hurdle. The Compromise agreed to Laic wednesday by a House Senate conference committee must win final approval from both Chambers but that is a foregone conclusion Given the Broad support that the Basic Mea sure received last year when it cleared the two houses in different versions health and human services Secretary Otis r. Bowen Lold conference committee members that he will recommend that president Reagan sign the legis lation even though it is considerably More ambitious than the measure proposed by the administration More than a year ago the Basic framework of the legislation has been in place for months providing Protection for America s 31 million medicare recipients against runaway Hospi Tal and prescription drug Bills accumulated during acute illnesses but House and Senate negotiators have worked since february to Iron out the details Bowen made catastrophic health legislation his top priority when he was appointed to head the health and human services department a Little More than two years ago and was there when the final Compromise was struck. The Compromise legislation provides for medicare coverage for Hospital stays lasting up to 364 Days a first Day deductible still will be charged. Medicare now pays full Hospital Bills for Only 59 Days a year. Regarding doctor Bills. Medicare now pays no More than 80 percent of approved charges no matter How High they run. Under the catastrophic health will pay 100 percent of allowable fees alter an individual has incurred s 1,310 to 11,400 in out of pocket expenses. Under the expansion medicare will pay half of drug costs in 1991 after n s600 deductible is Mei. With the government share rising to 60 percent in 1992 and 80 percent in 1993. However the deductible is expected to Rise each year to keep Pace with rising drug costs. While the exact premiums have not been deter mined the additional Flat Premium will stun at about a a month in 19b9, climbing 10 $10.20 in 1993. Man who saved family seeks shelter Chicago a a Man who was thinking of his own dead child when he saved a neighbor and her six children from their burning building is scrambling to find a new Home after the elate consumed his belong Ings and meager savings a social worker said wednes Day. If anyone deserves it he docs to get a break said Joanne Parker a social worker helping Rikka Pash. A tire Captain credited pish. 42, with saving the lives of Teresa bus Lomond and her children from the Blaze saturday id the South Side apartment building where Fash was also living. Officials said he made several trips into the burning building to help the family out. Pash fell and Cut one of his arms from the Elbow to the wrist and he said he May need surgery to repair the damage. Pash lost his Young wife and 5-Ycar-ol j daughter in a hit and run Accident nine years ago. While he realized the bus Tomoni family was in the burning building he remembered h is own loved ones. My Little girl had Black hair and greenish Blue eyes and Baa just started Pash Slid tuesday. I m still trying la recover from
